Tobacco giant Philip Morris is running an under-the-radar campaign to convince federal politicians to legalise e-cigarettes containing nicotine, with anti-smoking campaigners accusing the company of using the same "astroturf" tactics it used in its fight against plain packaging.

The multinational has been using its offshoot smokers' rights lobby group - dubbed "I Deserve To Be Heard" - to contact Australian smokers and vapers and urge them to make submissions to a parliamentary probe into the use and marketing of e-cigarettes.

The company's campaign - along with a coordinated push from Australia's online vaping community - has seen the inquiry inundated with submissions from people who say vaping has helped them quit smoking and dramatically improved their health.

While health groups in Australia and across the globe continue to warn about the potential risks of nicotine vaping, 107 of the 108 submissions so far loaded on the inquiry's website are strongly pro-vaping - and the vast majority follow a similar "personal story" template.

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Parliament is examining laws around the use and marketing of e-cigarettes.

World renowned tobacco control expert Simon Chapman, an emeritus professor at the University of Sydney, said Philip Morris and other interest groups were "astroturfing" - trying to create the illusion of a big grass-roots pro-vaping movement that does not really exist.

"They've been actively recruiting people to put in submissions," Professor Chapmen told Fairfax Media. "These are exactly the same tactics they used for plain packaging. They have dusted off the same software, the same template and just changed the content."

E-cigarettes are a multi-billion-dollar business overseas but the sale and personal possession of nicotine e-cigarettes is illegal in Australia. Health groups fear that if the government relaxes the rules it could lead to a wave of seductive advertising that would lure young people into taking up the habit - and possibly serve as a gateway drug to other forms of smoking.

Philip Morris's new campaign comes after it was ordered to pay the Australian government millions in legal costs over its failed bid to kill off world-first plain packaging laws.

The company used I Deserve To Be Heard in its plain packaging efforts but it has been largely sitting dormant in recent years. It fired back into life late last month with an email blast to members calling on them to "make their voices heard", as the company intensifies its push into the increasingly lucrative international e-cigarette market.

"Australia's laws on vaping are ridiculous. While the UK, USA, EU, Canada and New Zealand have all legalised or are legalising e-cigarettes, Australia completely lags behind. There's no reason why e-cigarettes with nicotine shouldn't be legal in Australia," it said.

Company spokesman Patrick Muttart told Fairfax Media that Philip Morris was committed "to converting the world's one billion plus smokers to smoke-free alternatives". I Deserve to be Heard members had demonstrated a strong interest in the legalisation of smoke-free products, he said: "As such we wrote once to our membership, informed them of the inquiry and encouraged those interested to consider submitting."

The submissions are also being coordinated by senior members of Vaper Cafe Australia, an online forum.

They have dusted off the same software, the same template and just changed the content

On June 7, a senior member of the forum identified as a 52-year-old man from Western Sydney urged users to "inundate" the inquiry with submissions. He offered a step-by-step guide on writing a submission.

Many of the 108 published submissions closely follow the template, in which people are urged to include "your age and gender, when you started smoking, how long you smoked for, how much you smoked and if you suffered any side effects from smoking".

Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon said the tobacco industry was aggressively pursuing the potential of e-cigarettes because it had given them the opportunity to "rebrand" themselves as part of the effort to reduce smoking – even there is no evidence e-cigarettes work as a deterrent.

"We must not allow e-cigarettes to become a socially acceptable alternative to smoking," he said. "E-cigarettes essentially mimic or normalise the act of smoking. They can result in some smokers delaying their decision to quit, and they can send signals to children and young people that it is okay to smoke."

But Dr Colin Mendelsohn, a tobacco treatment specialist in Sydney who advocates for e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to smokes, said the AMA's submission was "disgraceful" and accused it of using misleading data and ignoring international evidence that could save lives.

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He defended the submissions despite the coordination: "These are still genuine stories, many of whom have had their lives saved by vaping."

The National Health and Medical Research Council says 'there is currently insufficient evidence to support claims that e-cigarettes are safe".